I woke up on Friday morning all set to go to the gym and do W7R2 on the treadmill (as I had with all the other runs until now). Then I looked outside and saw the beautiful blue sky and remembered Laura's advice about mixing it up a bit for the longer runs and trying running in the park rather than on the treadmill. This had really scared me as I thought I wouldn't have a clue how to pace myself (in the gym I just set it to the correct speed and it's as simple as that). Anyway, I decided to give it a go, thinking I won't go that far but it will still be good to get some fresh air.

Well, the run went much better than expected! Running outside is so much more liberating; I could speed up and slow down when I felt like it, and the change of scenery made the time pass so much quicker. The best news of all...I covered the same distance that I had been covering in the gym so I must have paced myself quite well!

This morning, I saw the blue skies again and this time felt excited to try it! I managed to run even further and felt great when I'd finished! Sadly, I can't run this route in the evenings due to the low lighting so it will be back to the gym for the next run but I'm glad to say that I'll be running outside as often as possible now! Let's hope for more blue skies, not sure I'm ready for running in the rain yet...

13 Replies

Really good to read this. I've not braved it into the outside world yet. I did W8R1 this morning and I have all the same worries that you did about going outside (quite apart from looking like an idiot and bumping into someone I know) but once I've graduated (and feel brave) I'm going to try a parkrun and your post has given me some confidence that I might be able to make the conversion and pace myself ok.

I know exactly how you feel! I told myself I'd wait til graduation too but I'm glad that I gave it a go. I did pick a fairly flat route though, think I'll save the hills for post-graduation! You're so close to graduation so I'm sure it won't be long til you brave the outdoors anyway! Keep us all updated on how it goes!

I am in the UK so I should be used to the rain by now! I think it's just another unknown factor and not sure how it will affect my pace etc. I guess there's only one way to find out...

I totally agree that running outside is brilliant though, I didn't find myself counting down the minutes like I do on the treadmill! Hopefully with the lighter nights coming, I'll be able to get outside more often now!

I know everyone is different but for me I really surprised myself at being able to keep up the pace. I did pick a fairly flat route though, so that probably made it a bit easier.

Please let me know how you get on outside. It may take a little time to adjust to the correct pace but I definitely think that the time will pass much more quickly, and the fresh air certainly made me feel a lot better!

I went off a bit quick the first time I tried it, but you do get used to it and it is far nicer than being in a noisy sweaty gym full of glamorous fit young people ( no offence to any glamorous fit young people!)

It was a bit warm today tho - I'll soon have to start waiting til the evening if we're lucky enough for this weather to last